WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
CHILE
1959
CHILE
The third edition of the world championships continued the tradition of complications set by the first two. A less patient, diplomatic man than William Jones, General Secretary of FIBA, would have thrown in the towel when faced by the mountain of difficulties that emerged in the celebration of the world championships. However, he did not quit and the excellent results of the previous editions confirmed the wisdom of his decision although this third edition was on the point of altering his traditional British imperturbability.
There were problems from the very start. Chile was the country chosen by FIBA, so the competition was to remain in Latin America. They had full confidence in the ability of the Chilean authorities to construct the enormous pavilion“ Santiago de Chile” where the final phase was to be held. It was intended as the venue for the first world championship for women in 1953 but the work was not completed on time. No-one imagined that, five years later, the construction would still be unfinished! When the start date arrived there was no venue and organisational problems were piling up.
William Jones agreed to allow the organizers more time. So, the competition that was due to start in the autumn of 1958 was postponed until January 1959. The organisers decided that there were other cities that would be happy to co-host the event. Until then a single venue had been the championship policy but as they had miscalculated the tournament was in serious danger of suspension.
It was decided that the classification phase was to held between twelve teams divided into three groups. The cities chosen to hold this first phase were Antofagasta, the capital of Saltpetre in the north of the country, and Concepcion and Temuco, both to the south of Santiago. The first two in each group would go through to play the final phase with Chile who received a bye through the first phase due to their condition as hosts. Santiago de Chile was to hold the final phase for the medals and the six losing teams from the first round went to Valparaiso, a tourist resort a few kilometres from the capital.
183 FUNDACIÓN PEDRO FERRÁNDIZ